It's all about sharing the faith.

Tag Archives: Stewardship

Last week, I was taking out the trash and when I opened up the door, out of the corner of my eye I saw a big-black-something on my back deck that I knew didn’t belong. After my heart attack subsided, I noticed it was a dog. She seemed a little bit old and having had a dog when I was younger, I was concerned at the fact that she wasn’t wagging her tail when she saw me. I blew her a kiss and that seemed to warm her up a bit, which was a good sign. I still gave her some room as I walked around her to deal with the trash.

Moving to a sitting position from her original laying position, she eyed me the entire time as I took out the trash barrel. As I returned to where she was, she seemed to be significantly more friendly. She was a bit dirty, which told me she had been outside for a while. I also noticed that she had a collar and that it had a somewhat dated Dog License from a town about 10 miles away. As I was looking at her collar, she offered me a paw and then the other to follow. I began to wonder how she ended up at my back deck. I went ahead and got her some water, which was really all I had to offer her at the time. I had to take my daughter to school and my wife to work, so I left her on the deck with the water.

As I drove my wife to work, we talked about what we should do with our new visitor. We agreed that I would call the town that issued her license to see if they could give me owner information. I know that dogs are very much a part of one’s family and someone might be quite sad that this dog was missing. We agreed that we would care for her until we could find her owners. On the way back home, I took a detour to the supermarket and bought some dog food, a bowl and a leash. When I got back home though, she was gone; off on her travels to who-knows-where, I guess.

As I thought about this experience, it reminded me of one of the initial lessons in our 6th Grade Religious Education Curriculum — Stewardship. In Gen 1:28 we see that God has given us responsibility over His creation. He has an expectation that we will responsibly use what he has given us to meet our needs and to care for what He has created. Sometimes, you don’t know in what way you might be called to take action as a steward. It can be fighting to save a rain forest, it can be defending the right to life, or it can even be helping a dog that unexpectedly shows up at your back door. To be honest, I was a little sad that she was gone when I returned home, with the water still where I left it. I hope I did my part in caring for one of God’s creatures, but I think this was God’s way of reminding me that I have a responsibility to care for what he puts on my path to knowing, loving and serving Him.

On a side note, this reminded me of one of my favorite videos. I include it below in the hopes that it makes you smile.